


Call Me Friend But Keep Me Closer

by energetically



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Bottom Lee Taeyong, Complete, Creampie, Dirty Talk, Doyoung also, Edgeplay, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Humor, M/M, Mentioned Nakamoto Yuta, Neighbors, Not Beta Read, One Shot, Porn, Porn With Plot, Rimming, Sex, Sex Toys, Sexual Humor, Shy Lee Taeyong, Smut, Swearing, Ten and Johnny have a brief scene, Time Skips, Vibrators, YangYang too, unedited, yuta is only mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:34:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21786058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/energetically/pseuds/energetically
Summary: Taeyong wonders exactly how long it'll take for him to "Love Thy Neighbor"
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 11
Kudos: 377





	Call Me Friend But Keep Me Closer

**Author's Note:**

> I am on a huge Jaeyong binge right now and I'm enjoying all the love and support I'm getting on my other stories! This story was inspired by a writer's prompt on the tumblr page creativepromptsforwriting. As always this has not been edited or beta read so I'm sure there are mistakes. Nevertheless, enjoy the story!
> 
> -Energy

Taeyong thought it weird that he hadn’t met his neighbor. All he that he knew about the mysterious inhabitant of the loft right across the hall from his was that said inhabitant was a man--this information he had to practically pry to get his landlord to reveal. Other than the man’s gender, Taeyong knew next to nothing, except that he left in the mornings around the crack of dawn and came back home when Taeyong was already falling half-asleep on his couch from watching sitcom reruns.

Taeyong didn’t consider himself overly friendly or one of those neighbors that tended to engage in mindless chatter in the mailroom. But, seeing as how they occupied the only two apartments at the end of the south hall, Taeyong’s curiosity surged at the thought of who his nearby resident could be. It had been at least three months since the mysterious character moved in, hallway littered with boxes labeled in various shades of Sharpie marker, and now, Taeyong was beginning to think that maybe his neighbor was a complete recluse.

It was completely possible that his neighbor could be a recently divorced man in his late thirties that was depressed and disheartened by life. Or perhaps it was a bedridden senior citizen and the few slams of shut doors were from the man’s house nurse. Or maybe, it was some frat boy from the university up the road, who was so busy partying in between his studies that he was rarely home. Of all the made-up scenarios Taeyong came up with, he hoped for that one the least.

Taeyong stared at his neighbor’s door while fumbling for his keys in his back pockets, balancing a to-go box of Chinese food in the crook of his arms. He thought about introducing himself just for the hell of it, but with curiosity came fear. Maybe he didn’t want or rather,  _ need _ , to know who his neighbor is. What if his neighbor was a secret serial killer and introducing himself would only open Pandora’s box, putting him in a situation to become the next victim? He immediately shook the thoughts out of his head. This was ridiculous. His neighbor was (probably) not a serial killer or some weirdo, just very, very to himself.

The door to Taeyong’s apartment came open with a struggle, squeaking on its hinges at the gentle push of Taeyong’s hands. He stepped across the threshold kicking his sneakers off on the designated mat that read ‘hello’ in deep black curlicue. He inhaled the familiar lavender scent of his home, relieved that he made it through another work week at his hectic job. It was amazing how wide-eyed and eager he had been, upon graduating and landing his first important job as an assistant art dealer to a prominent figure in the art industry, Yuta Nakamoto. 

Yuta was well-known on online blogs and in the fine arts industry for having the “special eye.” Every piece he bid on, became an instant monetary success even if the artist was deemed amateurish. He once bid on a painting that consisted of a tossed salad--literally, an actual salad-- embossed within a golden frame, that was later valued at 1.2 million dollars. Even Taeyong, as a fine arts major, didn’t get the “kitsch” appeal of someone’s lunch on a canvas, but it made him look up to Yuta even more for being able to sell the piece.

When Taeyong’s advisor brought the opportunity of an assistant art buyer to Yuta Nakamoto up to him two months before graduation, he thought he hit the jackpot. He envisioned himself going to auctions, bidding on pieces that he saw with potential based on recent trends, and developing his own reputation as an up and coming dealer.

What he _did_ _not_ foresee was an entire year of making coffee, answering Yuta’s personal _and_ business phones, and picking up lunches for all of the other corporate buyers at the firm that employed him. By no means, did he think the menial tasks were beneath him, after all with great success it was almost required to start at the bottom and endure a little bit of suffering. But, becoming the company’s scapegoat whenever the slightest of inconvenience occurred (i.e. Yuta being late for an auction, despite Taeyong scheduling it and setting several reminders or invoices that Taeyong mailed arriving late due to a post office holiday) made him like he was hired just so that they could take advantage of him, lauding the need of experience over his head.

He got it. He  _ really _ did. It was only an entry-level position. There was always room to advance in the field. He knew he needed to focus on completing tasks with a gracious smile and network, crossing his fingers with the hope that his work ethic would not go unnoticed. It was just getting harder and harder to love his job each day.

In this past week alone, Taeyong visited the Chinese bistro three blocks away from their office so many times that the owner not only knew him by face  _ and  _ name (ditching the blunt albeit affectionate “red-haired boy”) but also decided to give him a complimentary plate of vegetable lo mein for giving them so much busy. Taeyong didn’t dare tell them that the charges were courtesy of the company card, because a free meal was a free meal.

He dropped down on his couch, legs outstretched to the other end and placed the plate of now cold (it was a long subway ride home) noodles on his lap as he reached for the remote. He hummed happily realizing his television was still paused on the last episode of his favorite comedy and tossed the remote near his foot casually after pressing play.

He took a large bite of the cold noodles, coughing when he swallowed a little took quickly. He closed his eyes momentarily to regain his composure, making sure he regained the ability to breathe through both his nose and mouth simultaneously when he heard it.

At first, he thought he imagined it, but his thoughts were soon confirmed when he heard the telltale sign of heavy footsteps coming down the hall, closer to the pair of apartment doors and the jingling of keys.

His neighbor was home early for once.

Taeyong placed the styrofoam container on his end table and scrambled to his feet towards his door. It felt like he was trying to see a shooting star, a once in a lifetime event that he may never see again if the opportunity slipped through his fingers. He didn’t want to open the door. That’d be too obvious and screamed that he was hoping for the chance to run into the man. So instead, he pressed his entire body against the door, squinting through the peephole. He mentally swore at himself for slacking on his cleaning as he tried to make out any distinguishing features through the blurry glass.

From what he could tell the man was pretty tall and had a head full of brown hair. That definitely ruled out the possibility of a balding divorcee or bedridden senior citizen. The suit suggested that Taeyong may have also escaped the possibility of a hypersexual frat boy, but he wasn’t 100% sure.

After fumbling with his keys for a few minutes, the neighbor retreated into his house and Taeyong descended down from the tip of his toes to the balls of his feet. It hadn’t set in during his brief moment of spying that he may never get an opportunity to introduce himself or get the man’s name again. He returned to the couch again, bottom lip poked out into a pout and mentally kicking himself for being so socially inept.

* * *

  
  


The next morning, at exactly 8:26 a.m., Taeyong heard it again. Being a morning person, he was already washed, dressed, and groomed for the day, enjoying a bowl of cereal at the table when he heard the quiet open and shut of his neighbor’s door. Usually, even on Saturdays, the man would be gone even before Taeyong was fully coherent.

Taeyong tilted the plastic bowl towards his lips downing the remaining sugary flavored milk in one gulp and practically ran over to his front door, sneaking a peek out of the peephole. The man, who he still couldn’t see very clearly, was dressed much more casually than the night before and seemed to be wrestling with the task of how to carry four giant filled trash bags in one go.

Taeyong reached for the doorknob hesitantly, teeth scraping his bottom lip until he felt a faint sting. He usually liked to mentally prepare himself before having a full-fledged conversation with people (he had talking points and small talk conversation starters prepared at all times at work) but he couldn’t fight the bubbling excitement spilling over in his chest as he opened the front door with a bit too much excitement.

The first thing he noticed was how incredibly wrong he was about the man. He was ashamed at his imagination for the downright injustices it created trying to portray an educated guess of what his neighbor looked like, because,  _ fuck  _ did he get it wrong.

This man was the epitome of Adonis. He was very muscular, biceps on display even beneath the simple white t-shirt. Taeyong couldn’t see the complete style of his brown locks, being buried beneath a solid baseball cap, and that was okay because he was too preoccupied with memorizing the specific shade of brown of his eyes when he stared at him.

“Uh, hi,” Taeyong said pressed against his own door, offering a small wave. He was sure if one were to take a picture of his face in that moment, it would resemble a deer in headlights. He hated how wide his eyes grew as the man stood up to his full height, trash bag momentarily forgotten on the evergreen shag carpet lining the hall, and facing Taeyong head-on.

“Hello,” the man said in a soft voice that pulled at Taeyong’s heart. It was so gentle and quiet that if Taeyong’s breaths were any more ragged he would’ve missed it.

“I, uh, I’m your neighbor,” Taeyong felt himself saying. He watched the man’s eyes trail to the golden framed door number hanging above Taeyong’s head and then falling back on him. Taeyong could win the award for stating the obvious and major in the Philosophy of “No Shit Sherlock” at this point. “But you knew that,” he added straightening his position to mimic one of a confident 20 something man rather than an awkward teen.

“I had a hunch,” the man said with mirth, deep dimples appearing on his cheeks. Taeyong stared at the indentations like he would a work of art that he was passionate about bartering. Anyone with such a beautiful, divine feature was meant to smile and experience a life of joy. He wondered if the man’s dimples were so deep from a life full of laughter.

“I just, I know you moved in a couple of months ago and thought I’d finally introduce myself,” Taeyong started, proud that he executed a smooth sounding sentence without stuttering or flustering at the sight of his neighbor’s Adam’s apple bobbing with each swallow. “I’m Taeyong,”

The man’s facial expression went through a whirl of emotions. Taeyong watched as his eyes widened in realization, traveling to mild horror and shame, then back to a polite demeanor. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and rocked on the ball of his heels, smiling sheepishly. 

“Oh, yeah, that’s actually my fault,” he said scratching at the hair at the nape of his neck. “My work schedule has been pretty unsteady and it’s just now adjusted so that I can function like every other human being.” He shook the thoughts of his disgruntled work life out of his brain and continued, “I’m Jaehyun. It’s nice to meet you, finally. Please don’t think of me as rude for not having introduced myself sooner.”

Taeyong wanted to swoon at how cute Jaehyun was but stopped himself. He just only learned the man’s name and didn’t want to give off the vibes of an obsessed school girl with an unrealistic crush. But, there was no denying how cute Jaehyun was and the nervous twitching of his heart that reminded him so much of days in elementary school passing around love notes, hoping that his crush(es) would check the box marked ‘yes.’

He waved off Jaehyun’s apology, hugging his arms across his body securely. “No, no, it never crossed my mind,” He was such a liar. Taeyong’s eyes trailed down to the trash bags. “Do you need some help? I can help you carry them to the trash compactor,” he offered. He swallowed hard ignoring the glaring fact that he had a very small, yet rational fear of germs that didn’t quite border being a complete germophobe, but definitely would ordinarily stop him from handling another person’s trash.

“Yeah, that’d be great actually,” Jaehyun said relieved nudging two of the lighter bags towards Taeyong. “That is if you really don’t mind,”

“Not at all,” Taeyong lied wiping his sweaty hands against his pants before picking up the bags. “It’s the neighborly thing to do. Consider it my equivalent of a housewarming/welcome to the neighborhood gift.” 

“Most people bring a cake whereas I get help with unwanted chores. I’ll take it,” Jaehyun laughed picking up the remaining two bags.

Taeyong decided that his laugh was even more fascinating than his dimpled smile.

* * *

  
  


Over the week, and through sparse intervals of hallway conversations, Taeyong learned that Jaehyun’s new schedule adjustment was permanent. He also learned that misery really did love company, as Jaehyun’s job was perhaps even worse than Taeyong’s.

There’s not much one could say about working in human resources. How a person even manages to land a job in human resources was a concept foreign to Taeyong completely. Yet, Jaehyun managed to put forth one whole year in the human resources department of a huge corporate law firm, hoping to garner enough references to push him through the application process for law school. Unfortunately, and a bit ironically, the only thing he managed to accomplish was a finely tuned and detailed list of what  _ not _ to do at job interviews, courtesy of the many, many applicants.

Taeyong could respect the decision to take a lower end job in order to be propelled into career advancement--that was practically preaching to the choir-- but, Jaehyun was way too nice to become a lawyer. His eyes were too pure, heart too noble to defend serial killers, murderers, and arsonists. Taeyong knew there was no honor amongst thieves and that any of Jaehyun’s guilty clients could probably easily manipulate him into a fetal position of sympathy just because it would be easy to do so. This man was too good-natured to be involved in a career of lies and deceit for pay.

Taeyong’s hands moved over the uncooked chicken instinctively, dousing the meat with coats of seasoning and flour. His job was making him lazy, and a tad bit depressed. Every day, Monday through Friday when he’d clock out, he’d be too drained and way too burned out to even think about cooking, prompting him to stuff his face with greasy and unhealthy fast food. It was his recent weigh-in session on the scale in his bathroom that motivated him to finally get his life together and do some grocery shopping. Granted, fried chicken wasn’t that much healthier but preparing it at home could cut down on some of the unnecessary add-ins.

Taeyong dropped the wing pieces into a pot of scalding oil and immediately washed the sticky flour paste off his fingers and stepping out of his kitchen window onto the fire escape. He winced at the passing sirens and honking horns of the evening traffic. He wasn’t partial to living in the city at all. Unfortunately for him, he needed to live there for the sake of his job, but if he had it his way, he’d have a nice small house in the countryside with a garden and a couple of dogs. Not, a shabby loft with a shared fire escape that looked as if it could come undone at any minute.

Taeyong turned around with a sigh, leaning his back against the railing, eyes trailing towards the window of Jaehyun’s apartment.

In retrospect, it probably wasn’t a good idea.

It was a  _ great _ idea. For Taeyong at least. Not so much for Jaehyun.

Jaehyun was standing in his kitchen, naked from the waist up, a towel wrapped loosely around his hips. Taeyong stared, mouth agape, as beads of water rolled down the expanse of Jaehyun’s neck, collecting in the indentations of his clavicle, and eventually rolling across his toned stomach and pitting in his navel. Taeyong slid over more on the fire escape to get a better view, watching as Jaehyun searched his refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water, uncapping the lid and gulping it down.

Taeyong licked his lips as a trickle of the ice-cold liquid escaped the corners of Jaehyun’s pinkish lips, joining the droplets on his pectoral.

Damn it.

_ Damn it _ .

All of Taeyong’s visual pleasure was suddenly replaced by the smell of burning oil and meat. He darted through his open kitchen window scrambling over to his stove, groaning in horror at the charcoal-colored pieces of meat. He fanned the emanating smoke clouds away, coughing and eyes brimming red. He never burned chicken, or  _ any  _ food for that matter and somehow a splash of water across a God-like body had cost him his dinner and $25 dollars. What was he, a hormonal teenager?

He took the pot off of the stove, sitting it in the kitchen sink, for lack of anything better to do with it and turned the stove off. The residual smoke wafted throughout his apartment in a thick cloud, rising towards the vents and the ceiling fan. If his apartment wasn’t so old and outdated, he would have anticipated the harsh, shrill sound of the smoke detector filling the room. For once, he was glad he didn’t live in a fancy flat.

A gentle knock resounded against his front door and Taeyong had to cover his nose and mouth with his t-shirt just to be able to breathe. When he yanked the jammed door open, Jaehyun stood there, face laced with concern, but body still wet from his shower. He pulled on a black t-shirt over his head and peeked curiously over Taeyong’s shoulder into the hazy apartment.

“Is everything okay? I smelled a lot of smoke,” he asked looking at Taeyong with concerned.

“Uh, yeah,” Taeyong scratched his neck feeling his face heat up. “I was just cooking,”

Jaehyun’s brow raised in curiosity and Taeyong wanted so badly to crawl into a corner, because, he swears he knows how to cook, despite all opposing evidence. Of course, he couldn’t simply say, “I know how to cook I was just distracted by your hot, naked body” because that was socially taboo.

“I think you may have left it on too long,” Jaehyun joked fanning the burning scent around him.

“I got distracted. I’m usually a better cook than this,” Taeyong pouted looking back at the pot in the sink. He really wanted that chicken.

“Distracted by what?”

Taeyong opened and closed his mouth. “An asteroid,” An asteroid? A fucking asteroid?!

“An,...asteroid?” Jaehyun asked slowly clearly unconvinced. “You saw an asteroid?”

“Yeah, on my television. It’s..it’s a show I was watching...I was distracted by the tv,” Taeyong finished.

Jaehyun nodded slowly and clicked his tongue. “Well, I just wanted to make sure my neighbor wasn’t dying tragically in a house fire. I don’t think my conscience would let me live if I didn’t try to save you.” Taeyong wanted to fucking swoon. “But, if you’re out of a dinner, I was just about to order a pizza if you’re interested.”

Fuck being a functional, well-adjusted adult that ate healthy. He’d rather be a slovenly and slothful young adult, stuffing his face with cheesy goodness with recurring fantasies of Jaehyun as a shirtless firefighter saving him from an apartment grease fire on his mind.

In short,  _ yes _ , he was so fucking interested.

* * *

  
  
  


Taeyong opened the door with an annoyed huff.  _ Seriously? _

The nineteen-year-old delivery boy stood in front of his door, carrying a small bag, stacked high with to-go boxes and a grimace on his face.

“Seriously man,” he said with a faint German accent. “Who orders food and doesn’t answer the door when it arrives. This is the  _ fifth _ time this week,”

Normally, Taeyong wouldn’t bat an eye at the idea of defending Jaehyun, his neighbor turned friend after three consecutive months of getting to know each other, but the delivery boy was right. This was getting completely out of hand. 

One of Jaehyun’s less admirable traits was his tendency to forget things, from the really trivial to the monumentally important. Once, the brown-haired man forgot his keys at work and rather than taking the subway back to the northern side of town, he slept on Taeyong’s couch (and conveniently  _ forgot _ to mention that he snored like a chainsaw carving through a tree). Seriously, how does a man that gorgeous and gentle snore that loud? A couple of times when Jaehyun gathered the courage to attempt and make dinner for himself, he came across the hall knocking furiously at Taeyong’s door until he answered in panic, thinking something was wrong, only for him to ask him the specific directions for preparing stewed beef. And not even five minutes after getting said instructions, Jaehyun would come rushing back over forgetting nearly everything Taeyong said resulting in the latter making the meals for him.

As adorable as Jaehyun was, it definitely got old.

Once Taeyong started refusing to be his personal meal prepper, Jaehyun went back to saving portions of his paycheck simply to eat take out every night. It was an unhealthy habit but Taeyong reasoned that his friend worked out enough to balance it out either way.

The problem  _ now _ was that Jaehyun was never around when the delivery boy from his favorite take out place arrived, leaving the courier YangYang disgruntled and Taeyong plagued with babysitting the delicious delicacy until whenever Jaehyun decided to turn up (which did nothing for his goal of eating healthier for the rest of the year).

Taeyong sighed reaching out to take the bag and set it on the small table near the front door. “I really am sorry for this YangYang,” he said apologetically. “I’ll make sure you get a big tip for the inconvenience. Certified and guaranteed straight from Jaehyun’s wallet.”

YangYang seemed disenchanted by the promise, having heard it before and pushed the receipt towards Taeyong. “Sign your name here.”

Taeyong scribbled his signature on the dotted line followed by a generous ten-dollar tip on the scrap of paper and handed it back to the man.

YangYang looked down at the receipt in his hand and squinted at it. “No, I said sign your name,” he said pointing at the signature.

“That  _ is _ my signature,” Taeyong said in confusion.

“Really?” YangYang asked eyes widening in surprise. “Why does it look like chicken scratch?”

That little shit.

Taeyong snatched the receipt back adjusting his signature and crossing out the tip amount before handing it back to the boy with a victorious smirk. “I bet you can read it now,”

He decidedly ignored the stream of curses leaving the nineteen-year old’s mouth as he descended down the hall, promising never to deliver for them again as Taeyong shut the door closed.

  
  
  
  
  
  


“Taeyong! Open up!”

Taeyong lolled his head towards the analog clock and then at the front door. Jaehyun was right on time, as usual. Taeyong placed his bowl of half-eaten food down on the table and opened the door, unaffected by Jaehyun storming in, loosening his tie and plopping down on the armchair in his living room.

“What’s wrong with people?” he asked tossing the tie on his lap and tossing his head back in exasperation.

“Long day?” Taeyong asked retaking his position on the couch and spooning a spoonful of food in his mouth.

“The longest,” Jaehyun groaned, eyes closed. “ My time was split between interviewing people who couldn’t even spell affidavit, like I seriously doubt they have a qualifying degree, and employees threatening the company with suits just because they have the ability to find loopholes in everything,”

“Mm,” Taeyong mumbled between bites of food.

Jaehyun cracked his eyes open and stared at the redhead. “You seem surprisingly relaxed for a Thursday evening. Was work okay?”

Taeyong swallowed leaning back into the sofa. “Actually, it was. I went to an auction with Yuta today at one of the downtown galleries and convinced him to bid on this new and upcoming artist’s canvas, and get this, he actually listened. Well, he told me that he already planned to prior to my “butting in” but deep down I know he considered it because of me so progress, yeah?” Taeyong said taking another bite.

“What are you eating,” Jaehyun said suddenly disregarding everything Taeyong had just said, eyes fixed on the bowl.

“Fried rice,”

Jaehyun sat up straight, lifting the plastic bag on the coffee table up enough to read the name printed on the dangling tag and narrowed his eyes.

“Are you eating my food!?”

Taeyong continued to munch nonchalantly offering a small nod. “Yes, yes I am,”

Jaehyun let a cute whine fall past his lips and kicked his legs akin to a toddler throwing a tantrum. “Why!”

“Well, someone had to. And you weren’t here,”

“So because I’m not here that gives you the right to eat all my food!?”

“I didn’t eat all of it. There’s a fortune cookie in there somewhere,” Taeyogn said turning over the empty bag and tossing the fallen cookie to Jaehyun.

The man sullenly peeled back the plastic wrapper and cracked the cookie open retrieving his fortune.

_ Closed Mouths Don’t Get Fed _

Jaehyun never missed a delivery again.

* * *

  
  


It took a stream of connected burglaries within their apartment building for Taeyong to finally invest in a security system. And a baseball bat, just in case. He never thought about buying a home system when he moved in for the simple fact that he hadn’t planned on living in an apartment building forever and it just seemed like a waste of money. Having finally met Jaehyun four months ago, he could confidently say he knew everyone in the building and no one raised any flags.

That was before the fourth-floor tenant, Ten, had his apartment broken into. The surprising thing to Taeyong was that the alleged criminals chose a target so high up from the ground floor, which meant that either the thieves were skilled and committed their crime via the fire escape in the dead of night or they had direct access to the building’s locked floors. It didn’t seem like it would be a big deal to Taeyong. The items in question would probably be recovered or replaced in no time. But, when he saw the distraught man at the scheduled resident meeting in the building’s lobby, he knew better to think otherwise.

“I want everyone on this!” Ten said pacing about the lobby arms wrapped around himself. “Police! The FBI! The CIA! Everybody!”

“He’s a tad bit hysterical isn’t he?” Jaehyun whispered to Taeyong in his ear sending the hairs on the back of his neck upright.

“A tad?” Taeyong snorted leaning against the concierge desk.

Ten, who had to be restrained by his giant of a boyfriend Johnny, was ranting his complaints to their shared landlord, who was doing his best to hide behind the clipboard in his hands.

“They took everything important to me! My iPad with all my drawings, my earrings, my music collection!” Ten fumed.

“But ironically, and  _ most _ importantly they left his dignity,” Johnny joked arms still wrapped around the man’s small body in an attempt to stop the wrongful fury built towards the landlord.

Ten stopped his ministrations, eyes narrowing as he tilted his head back to look at his boyfriend with a strong glare. “I wish they had taken YOU!”

Amidst all the commotion and attention that Ten was causing, Taeyong could only focus on the soft graze of Jaehyun’s fingers brushing against his hands. Taeyong looked up at his friend expectantly but Jaehyun’s eyes were focused on the bickering couple.

“Taeyong, you should get a security system,” he said in a soft voice.

He was worried.

So Taeyong got the system, if not to assuage Jaehyun’s fears. Whatever those may be.

  
  
  
  
  


Two weeks and two nights later, he grew to appreciate Jaehyun’s admiral concern for his well-being. The soft scratching that Taeyong chalked up to rough winds in his half-sleep state, turned into a loud, scraping against his kitchen window, so loud that Taeyong could hear it from his bedroom.

He lurched upright in his bed eyes immense with fear and his body frozen in space. His mind was running through a million thoughts at once.  _ What should he do? What should he save? What should he grab? Who should he call?  _ He didn’t know if it was one thief or two or if they were armed and that made his fear grow exponentially.

He reached beneath his bed, grabbing the metal baseball bat he bought weeks ago and slowly inched off of the mattress. He held his breath at the noisy creak the spring of his mattress made, pausing to make sure he hadn’t been heard and proceeded to tiptoe out into the living room. He bypassed the kitchen with a quick dash, too afraid to look for the source of the increasingly loud noise, and bolted out of the front door. He ran face-first into a tall figure waiting outside his door and immediately screamed, bat gripped in his hand prepared to swing.

“Taeyong! Taeyong! Wait it’s me!”

Taeyong snapped his eyes open and sighed with relief at Jaehyun (who was shirtless and clad in only his pajama bottoms) wielding a cast iron skillet in his hand.

“Why in the hell are you lurking outside my apartment at 3 in the morning with a skillet?” Taeyong said infuriated but comforted at the man’s presence. “Was that noise I heard you?”

“No, that’s why I’m here,” Jaehyun said slightly taken aback at the older’s sharp tongue. “I heard the noise from my window near the fire escape.”

Taeyong paused gripping tighter onto the bat. “You mean, there really is someone out there?” It wasn’t so farfetched of an idea. Ten stayed two floors higher than they did, so surely if a criminal was determined enough to make their way to the fourth floor, the second floor would be a piece of cake.

Jaehyun whipped his head towards the open door of his apartment, hearing the loud scraping noise move towards his window instead. “I think they’re trying to get in wherever they can,” he whispered. “I’m going to try to surprise them and hit them from behind while they’re trying to get into my place,” he said bypassing Taeyong and walking into the latter’s apartment.

“What!?” Taeyong whisper-yelled following the man back inside. “Jaehyun you can’t-”

The younger brought his index finger to his lips to silence Taeyong’s pleas and snuck closer to the kitchen window. Taeyong could feel his heart beating out of his chest. His mind wouldn’t let go of all the ways this could end horribly wrong. What if the criminals hurt Jaehyun? He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if the Jaehyun died trying to play good samaritan. He bit his lip coming closer to the man as he tried to unlatch the latch to the window as quietly as he could.

“Be careful,” Taeyong whispered resting a hand on Jaehyun’s bare shoulder.

Jaehyun looked back at Taeyong momentarily, hesitating for a second before lifting the window up and stepping out onto the escape hatch. Taeyong pressed his back against the adjacent wall, snapping his eyes shut in anticipation of what was sure to be a gruesome ordeal.

But he heard nothing. For what seemed like a long time.

Then he heard Jaehyun’s soft chuckle and he was genuinely confused.

By the time Taeyong opened his eyes, prepared to step out and see what the humor in getting robbed was, Jaehyun was already re-entering the apartment through the window, cradling something in his arms. He placed the skillet turned weapon onto the countertop in order to better hide his “surprise.”

“Looks like our “criminal” was just this little guy looking for some shelter from the cold,” Jaehyun said closing the window behind him and unveiling what was in his hands.

A tiny white kitten with peach-colored patches popped his head up curiously from beneath Jaehyun’s palm and meowed hesitantly.

“It’s a kitten,” Taeyong said dumbfounded.

“Yeah,” Jaehyun laughed again petting the poor thing between the ears. “He was scraping his nails against the metal outside and meowing.”

Taeyong dropped the bat on the kitchen floor with a loud clatter, making the kitten flinch further into Jaehyun’s hand. While he felt bad for nearly scaring the life out of the tiny cat, he reasoned that at least he had 8 more whereas Taeyong could’ve lost his only one to the immense amount of panic he previously felt. He sank down onto the floor cradling his head in his hands and took a deep calming sigh.

“You were really scared huh?” Jaehyun asked lightly now that the wave of terror had dissipated. He sank down onto the ground next to Taeyong letting the young kitten gnaw and nip at his pinky finger.

“Well, waking up to a possible burglar isn’t exactly a trip to the amusement park for me,” Taeyong said bitterly trying to regain control of his nerves. “There’s a lot of adrenaline coursing through my blood and it’s gonna take me a minute to get back to my half-dead sleep state.”

After a moment’s silence, he turned his head to find Jaehyun staring at him with an unreadable grin.

“What?” Taeyong asked, suddenly self-conscious. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

Jaehyun shook his head with a light snicker and scratched the forming stubble beneath his chin. “Nothing, I just...I’ve never seen you this late...or rather this early before,”

The reality of what Taeyong must have looked like was worse than the actual fear of getting robbed. He knew he was a chronic drooler when he slept so he imagined there had to be a splotch of dried up saliva on his chin. His brows had to be unruly and untamed and he couldn’t even imagine the different positions his hair was in. It definitely wasn’t the look he wanted to give off to his hot neighbor, even if they were becoming close friends.

“You look really nice,” Jaehyun finished.

It was ridiculous how charming and fully functional Jaehyun could be at 3 AM. Granted, the man spent the better half of the year waking up this early just to get to work on time so Taeyong rationalized that he probably didn’t have to try very hard. 

Taeyong ducked his head a bit, playing with a strand of his own hair just because he felt awkward not doing anything with his hands. He could melt from the hot, intense gaze Jaehyun was giving off and that unnerved him slightly. After all, how friendly was too friendly between friends?

“Really?” Taeyong stated more than asked, voice laced with sarcastic disbelief.

“I think so. I mean I would have never pegged you as a cartoon character pajamas kind of guy,”

Horror.

Absolute horror had to be the predominating emotion of the night. Not the fear of potentially getting killed. Not the embarrassment from the string of compliments. But the actual horror from the awareness that he was wearing the t-shirt and matching bottoms with a cutesy children’s character branded on it surrounded by hearts and cringy phrases like “lover boy” and “be my baby.” It was a Valentine’s gift from his mother that he reluctantly accepted via mail and promised himself that the only pair of eyes that would ever see the embarrassing get up was his own. Obviously, had he not thought he was previously in a life or death situation earlier, he would have changed into something more respectable.

His murmured groans sounded harmonious with Jaehyun’s melodious laugh.

  
  


* * *

“Taeyong, what are you doing? Shouldn’t you have left five minutes ago?” Doyoung asked sliding his employee card through the time clock. He came over to the desk Taeyong was bending over, watching with curiosity as the man clicked through a series of links on the computer.

“Yeah, I’m just trying to track a package really quickly,” Taeyong said eyes glued to the screen. I’m trying to intercept it before it gets to my house so that my neighbor won’t see it.”

“I thought your neighbor always signs your packages for you,” Doyoung said slinging his bag on his shoulder and rubbing the tension out of his neck.

“This time is different,” Taeyong said clicking his tongue when the web page didn’t load immediately. “This time it’s a gift and if he signs for it, it’ll ruin the surprise.” Taeyong smiled triumphantly when the page finally loaded showing a small animated postal truck with the status of ‘on the way’ blinking in red font. He exited out of the browser and stood completely upright. “And now I can leave,”

Doyoung was the closest person at his office that he considered a friend. Yuta was as nice as he could possibly be, but it was only “work” nice. The type of nice where you opt to get along and engage in small talk for the sake of creating a comfortable work environment. That special brand of niceness didn’t translate well into after work hours where most of his coworkers put a physical block on him, going as far as to ignore him in public spaces like the supermarket or the mall.

Doyoung was pretty much in the same space as him, a hired assistant buyer, the main difference being, he really didn’t care whether he advanced or not. To him, it was only a job and if he had to he’d find another. He never hesitated to remind Taeyong of the hauntingly surreal fact that if he died tomorrow the company would replace him in the blink of an eye. The realist point of view was greatly appreciated, despite Doyoung’s sometimes acerbic delivery.

“Is it his birthday? You two act more like boyfriends than neighbors,” Doyoung pointed out as they stepped out onto the busy street.

Taeyong cleared his throat. “No, it’s not his birthday. He just did a favor for me the other night and now I’m paying him back,”

Doyoung arched his brow.

“N-not like that!” Taeyong corrected waving off the suggestive statement. “There was an incident on our fire escape and he took care of it.”

Doyoung shook his head redirecting them towards the subway station. “You’re pitiful sometimes,” he said looking both ways as he led them across the intersection. “Either ask the guy out or don’t,”

“There’s tact with everything Doyoung,” Taeyong said shoving his hands in his pockets. “You can’t be so bold right off the bat,”

“But, it’s been four almost five months of you two knowing each other. Make a move before he thinks you’re friend-zoning him and starts fucking your downstair’s neighbor.”

Taeyong scrunched his nose in disgust. “Jungwoo? Jaehyun doesn’t even know Jungwoo and he’s definitely not his type,”

“He’s a man. Sex is his type. You don’t always have to know someone to fuck them,” Doyoung reminded him as they descended the stairs to the underground station.

“That is really bad advice.”

Taeyong knew Jaehyun more than Doyoung did, which was not at all since he only knew him through the depictions in his and Taeyong’s conversation. And he knew without a doubt that Jaehyun was unlike the men he had been involved with before. Single-minded, lustful, and promiscuous.

Right?

Doyoung’s accusations brought on a flood of unwanted thoughts throughout the duration of the train ride. Sure, Taeyong knew a lot about Jaehyun but there was so much he didn’t know. They never talked about his past relationships, which, to be fair, Taeyong never discussed his either, but for a very good reason. Taeyong’s romantic history was filled with tawdry men that he tried to fix into the perfect partner and always ended with his heartbroken. For all he knew, Jaehyun’s reason for not discussing his own past could be because deep down  _ he was _ one of those tawdry, promiscuous types. Jaehyun seemed to be very private about that topic and it made Taeyong nervous for some reason.

Then there was the glaring elephant in the room that demanded Taeyong to focus on the possibility of what could be going on now, in the present, beneath his own nose. Jaehyun undoubtedly had a past, candid or not. But, who was to say that he wasn’t currently involved in meaningless flings?

Jaehyun had a pretty precise schedule, out of the house by 8 AM and back by 6 PM on weekdays but weekends were fair game. Most of the time they spent Saturdays together, watching movies or playing video games, and occasionally they went out for meals. But there were some weekends where Jaehyun was busy, overbooked with errands and unmentioned plans and Taeyong wouldn’t see him until, much, much later. He didn’t want to pry, nothing gave him that right, but it did cause a bit of a sting in his chest to think that Jaehyun could be fucking other guys, living the playboy life outside of the building and being a sweet, potential boyfriend type when he was around Taeyong.

Doyoung got off a few stops before Taeyong, wishing him the best of luck at whatever ridiculous thing he had planned, leaving Taeyong to pull at his hair for the duration of the ride and up until he exited the elevator on his floor. By the time he reached his door, he had made up his mind. He was going to broach the conversation with Jaehyun.

Tomorrow. Or Next week maybe.  _ Eventually _ , he’d bring it up.

He paused at the sound of Jaehyun’s door opening, turning to see the man holding a brown box, the tiny kitten at the heels of his feet.

“Hey, you got another package,” Jaehyun said tapping his hand atop the box.

Taeyong swore at the unreliability of the postal service and turned to face Jaehyun completely leaning against the wall. “Actually, I got that gift for you,” he said eyes glued to the kitten rubbing his pink nose against Jaehyun and pawing at his foot. “It’s just a thank you for the faux burglary the other night. You know, calming me down and everything,”

Jaehyun looked at the rectangular box and then back at Taeyong. “Taeyong you didn’t have to do this,”

“I know, but I wanted to,” Taeyong said finally meeting his eyes. “I think it’ll show you how much I appreciate you. Go ahead and open it,”

Jaehyun walked fully from under the threshold of his apartment closing the door behind him. The little kitten scampered over to Taeyong, standing on its hind legs in an effort to garner the red head’s attention and purred in contentment upon being picked up in Taeyong’s arms. He kept his eyes focused on the cat, ignoring the loud rip of the cardboard flaps and bracing himself for the inevitable thanks and tight hug the younger was sure to gift him with.

But nothing came.

When Taeyong finally looked up, he could see the Jaehyun’s face alternate through three different shades of red settling on the deepest shade of crimson. The blush crept up his neck and tinged his ears to the point where Taeyong was worried that the man was close to fainting.

“Uh,” Jaehyun coughed into his hand, a smile playing on his lips as he stared at the object in the box. “I really don’t know what to say,”

A vibrating back massager shouldn’t warrant speechlessness. Or the flush of embarrassment Jaehyun was sporting.

Taeyong walked over, standing on his tiptoes to get a better view of the boxed item.

It was completely possible, because of a simple thing call human error, for this mistake to happen he reasoned. Given all of the contributing factors--Taeyong was half-asleep when he ordered the item on online and didn’t bother to double-check the order receipt-- and his perfectly timed levels of fluctuating embarrassment around his neighbor, it shouldn’t be surprising that his mind skimmed over the various products and ordered a vibrator instead.

“Two vibrating cores to stimulate as you insert and slide further in,” Jaehyun read taking the small box out of the cardboard. “And it’s waterproof,”

Taeyong had been through so many horrifying experiences that he was sure he was incapable of feeling shame. He was standing there, watching his friend think that he actually purchased him a vibrator and knew that everything in him wanted to pull up the carpet lining the hall and wrap himself up in it. But, all he could do was lean against the hall wall and sigh.

“I swear on everything that that was supposed to be a vibrating back massager,” he whined covering his eyes. “Not a vibrator.”

He was glad Jaehyun was able to find humor in the situation like most others, feeling warmed by the younger’s throaty laugh. 

“And here I was thinking this was your cute, albeit direct way of propositioning me,” Jaehyun said tossing the box between his hands.

Taeyong groaned fully covering his face. “Can you stop? You’re not making this moment any easier!”

“Stop what?”

“Stop being so...flirty to make light of the situation.”

Jaehyun placed his tongue in his cheek and let out a small breath. “Well I’m sorry Taeyong but I didn’t think it would take this long for you to realize I really want to be inside you and it’s starting to bug me,” he said with a dimpled smile.

Taeyong slowly spread his fingers so that he was looking at Jaehyun’s face for any hint of a joke. The man was grinning as he always was but there wasn’t a trace of sarcasm in his words.

“You..what?” Taeyong asked slowly.

“I thought it was pretty obvious,” Jaehyun sighed to himself. “But I guess I’ve never been good at being that candid. Although,” he said unboxing the black rod-shaped toy. “This may be a push in the right direction by the universe,”

“I may be...completely delirious and exhaustion from working a ten-hour shift but, it sounds like you’re asking for sex,” Taeyong said slowly.

“Is that not okay,” Jaehyun asked suddenly.

“Oh no it’s wonderful, I just wanted to make sure before I rip your clothes off.”

* * *

  
  
  
  


Jaehyun was a really, really good kisser. Every press of his lips against Taeyong’s mouth, or his jaw, or his chin, sent an eruption of fireworks within his chest. Taeyong cupped Jaehyun’s cheeks between his hands, tongue playing against his in sync to their ragged breath.

Jaehyun’s hands trailed down the side of Taeyong’s bare chest littering it with quick pecks until he rose up to hover over him.

“I want to make you feel good, hyung,” Jaehyun said slowly picking up the battery-operated toy. “Will you let me?”

Taeyong would be a downright fool, after all the pining he did, to deny Jaehyun of the simplest f pleasures.

Jaehyun pushed the black angled vibrator past his own lips, sucking lewdly on the tip of the device. Taeyong’s mouth widened at the slight of saliva running down the length of the toy, Jaehyun’s eyes never leaving his. His cock twitched with every erotic pop of the toy being pulled past Jaehyun’s supple lips. Jaehyun pressed the vibrator against Taeyong’s lips.

“Suck,” he ordered with a tone of authority that made Taeyong mewl.

The redhead opened his mouth obediently, tongue lapping and wrapping around the wet toy that was previously in his neighbor turned lover’s mouth. He moaned around the toy, hands trailing down to his own cock and giving it an appreciative stroke before Jaehyun slapped his hand away.

“No, I want you to come untouched,” he said leaning down to lick around Taeyong’s ear. Jaehyun’s breath laid thick, hot, and heavy against his earlobe and Taeyong could melt from the feeling alone. It was hard to believe that this was the same man that whined about Taeyong eating his food or the same man that showed so much paternal affection towards his newly adopted kitten. This man was  _ seduction _ , pure sin and Taeyong didn’t know why he waited so long to ask Jaehyun Jung to fuck his brains out.

He whined when Jaehyun rose away from his person, pulling the vibrator out of his mouth and inspecting the wetness surrounding it.

“Do you have any lube?” he asked looking towards the dresser. “I don’t think my spit would be enough to stretch you open.”

Taeyong could easily argue that it could and that, as a matter of fact, there was nothing he’d like more than to be stretched open with only Jaehyun’s tongue as prep, but given the amount of time that had passed since he last fingered himself (longer than he had known Jaehyun) there was no way his body would be able to endure the brutal pounding.

He gestured vaguely towards his bedside table, watching the man over him procure the translucent bottle of lube and squirt a generous amount over his fingers, spreading it around and between them. Jaehyun’s nose twitched at the concentrated sweet scent and shot Taeyong a smug look.

“Strawberry?” he asked.

Taeyong shrugged-- because who the fuck cares about humiliation when he was about to be fucked-- and simply replied, “I have a big sweet tooth,”

The answer seemed to satisfy Jaehyun as he wrapped his arms around the lower end of Taeyong’s torso and flipped him onto his stomach, arching his ass in the air. Taeyong moaned, face pressed into his mattress at the rough handling and gripped the sheets tightly, bracing himself for what was sure to come next.

In an instant, Jaehyun had one finger circling around the rim of his ass and pushing inside teasingly until his entire index finger was fully inside of the moaning male. He pushed his finger in deeper, curling it at the knuckle and rubbing against Taeyong’s sensitive walls.

“Fuck,” Taeyong whimpered trying to resist the urge to lift his knees off the mattress. He hadn’t realized how pent up his sexual desires were. It had been several long months of touching himself to the image of Jaehyun and even with his eventual release each time, none of it compared to the feeling of one of Jaehyun’s fingers feeling around inside of him. He could only imagine the stars he was sure to see when the younger male shoved his cock inside.

Jaehyun added an extra finger, dead set on stroking as close to Taeyong’s prostate as his fingers would allow. Taeyong rolled his hips slightly, groan catching in his throat as the tips of Jaehyun’s fingers nearly grazed the bundle of nerves within in him. With one slow curl, shivers rippled through Taeyong’s being as Jaehyun smiled in glee feeling his prostate with the pads of his fingers.

“Oh shit!” Taeyong whined grinding down against his hard-on to relieve some of the friction.

“Does that feel good baby?” Jaehyun asked fingers softly grazing Taeyong’s spot while watching his lover rut in exasperation.

“Fuck yes! Right there!” Taeyong moaned unable to resist lifting his hips and pushing back against the man’s long fingers.

“Mmm, I thought so,”

And just like that the sensation was gone, leaving Taeyong in a fit of understimulated tremors, so close but out of reach of his release. He let out a short cry, tears brimming his eyes at the sudden stop and mentally cursed Jaehyun for being so damn devilish.

“Every time you try to make yourself come I’m gonna stop you,” Jaehyun warned placing the tips of the vibrator against Taeyong’s rim. “Do you understand?”

Taeyong nodded suppressing his cries of frustration. Jaehyun flicked the vibrator on the lowest setting, pressing it harder against Taeyong’s puckered hole. Leaning over, he lapped his wet tongue against Taeyong’s opening as the toy slid further inside. The vibrating tip hit Taeyong’s prostate almost immediately sending the man crawling up the bed from pleasure.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Jaehyun clicked dragging Taeyong back towards his initial position. “Don’t run. Take it. Don’t you want to be a good boy for me?”

Taeyong moaned out so loudly he was sure they could hear him from two floors up. His eyes were blurry from tears and his knuckles were turning red from gripping the blankets so hard. Jaehyun responded appropriately by increasing the speed of the vibrator sending it pulsing against Taeyong’s most sensual spot.

And then it was gone.

“Wh-why?” Taeyong managed to stutter out, looking over his shoulder.

Jaehyun only offered him a lazy smile, sitting the vibrator off to the side and coating his own cock with a glob of lube. “I like seeing the look on your face when I bring you so close to your orgasm and rip it away from you. Your lips curls, your eyes roll back and your skin gets so hot, hyung,” he said in a shaky breath. “And you’ve never looked so damn good to me.”

Jaehyun didn’t wais any time after that. He grabbed Taeyong’s hips, resting his thumbs in the dimples of the redhead’s back and thrust his cock in slowly until he was fully seated inside of him. Taeyong’s moans were drowned out by the sound of Jaehyun’s skin slapping against Taeyong’s ass and the former’s tuneful sounding grunts.

“Fuck, baby,” Jaehyun said behind gritted teeth, pounding into Taeyong without abandon. He leaned forward hugging the man from behind and nibbled on Taeyong’s ear. “I’ve wanted this for so long, hyung,”

A wet spot was forming beneath Taeyong from the increasing amount of precum dribbling from his cock and honestly, if Jaehyun dared to edge him to the brink again, he’d probably die. He really just needed to come and Jaehyun was dragging their fuck session out for as long as he could.

The younger male littered kisses across Taeyong’s neck never ceasing his pace despite Taeyong’s pleas for him to go faster.

“P-please Jae, I’m so close! I’m right there!” Taeyong begged.

Jaehyun wrapped his had around Taeyong’s cock and squeezed him at the base. “Not yet, not until I come. I want you to come after I come inside you.” He admitted finally picking up his pace. “Do you want me to come inside you Taeyong?”

“Y-yes fuck! Yes just do something!” Taeyong whimpered loudly.

Jaehyun’s hips stuttered suddenly, shooting loads of come inside of Taeyong while simultaneously releasing his strong grip on the man’s cocking and stroking him to his own eventual orgasm. Jaehyun looked down at his cock still deep inside of Taeyong.

“Uh, there’s gonna be a mess,” he said voice reverting back to the cute and charming Jaehyun that Taeyong regularly saw. Not that he was complaining because domineering/sexual deviant Jaehyun may be his new favorite.

“It’s fine,” Taeyong said completely spent, collapsing his head on the pile of pillows at the head of his bed.

Jaehyun pulled out slowly groaning as he watched his own come roll out of Taeyong’s ass and seeping down his leg pooling onto the bed top. Taeyong shuddered from the loss of Jaehyun being inside of him and rolled over to stare at his neighbor.

He didn’t really know what all of this meant. He was sure that Jaehyun had feelings for him and he obviously had feelings for the man too. They weren’t exactly in the best position --literally-- to define the relationship, which was fine with Taeyong for the time being but the last thing he wanted was for things to get weird between them.

“That was...wow,” Jaehyun said falling on the mattress next to Taeyong. “Better than I could have imagined,”

“Agreed,” Taeyong nodded staring at the ceiling.

Jaehyun interlocked his fingers with his and Taeyong trailed his eyes down to meet his brown ones. The smile was trustworthy, dimples deep like all Jaehyun knew in life was laughter and happiness. Taeyong always thought anyone with such a beautiful, divine feature was meant to smile and experience a life of joy.

He was just glad he got to be a part of it.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Bonus points to anyone that can guess what my favorite line of this whole fic is!
> 
> Also I'm on Twitter: @WriteWithEnergy


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